Taking a few extra minutes to caramelize the onions is well worth the effort. They provide a sweet counterpart to the sausage and basil. Using a store-bought prebaked crust and jarred tomato sauce makes this weeknight pizza easily doable in half an hour.
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ medium sweet onion, sliced
- ¼ teaspoon salt, divided
- 4 ounces uncooked hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1 (11- or 12-inch) (12 ounces) store-bought pizza crust
- ½ cup purchased tomato basil sauce
- 6 ounces (1½ cups) part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- Chopped fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Swirl oil in the bottom of a small heavy-bottom saucepan. Add onion and half the salt. Cover and set pan over medium-high heat and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion starts to sweat and brown along the edges, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low, and continue cooking, adding 1 tablespoon of water at a time as necessary to prevent burning, until the onion is browned and soft, 7 to 10 minutes longer.
Meanwhile, coat a medium or small nonstick skillet with cooking spray and set over medium-high heat. Crumble sausage into the skillet, and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until the sausage is cooked through, 4 to 6 minutes.
Lay pizza crust on work surface. Spread tomato basil sauce over the crust to about 1/2 inch of the edge. Top with mozzarella cheese. Scatter the onions and sausage over the cheese. Bake the pizza directly on the oven rack until the bottom is crispy and the cheese is melted, 7 to 10 minutes. Slice into 8 pieces and serve.
